


The Graduate

by littlemarvelfics



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Graduation, Tattoo, Tattoo Artist Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 21:10:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21482908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemarvelfics/pseuds/littlemarvelfics
Summary: Tattoo artsit Bucky comes to see you graduate.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 71
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019





	The Graduate

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I hope you enjoy this! Side note, it has nothing to do with the movie The Graduate. I’m just terrible at titles.

You wiped your hands on the black gown currently covering your clothes. You stood with the rest of your row and slowly shuffled towards the side of the stage. In just a few moments, your college experience would be over. All the late nights and cram sessions would be done and for that you were grateful. But you would miss the group of friends you had made, the ones who made those late nights bearable. 

You took a deep breath as you ascended the stairs towards the podium where the Dean of Students was reading out names. Yours was called and you walked across the stage, hearing a whistle that could only belong to one man. Bucky Barnes. 

You had met Bucky two years ago when you were a sophomore and he was finishing up his apprenticeship at a local tattoo shop. He was friends with Steve, a senior you had befriended through an art elective. You and Bucky had met at a party and the rest was history. Once Bucky had finished his apprenticeship, he worked at opening his own shop and he finally took his first appointment six months ago. Bucky was the one responsible for the black ink over your ribs, a simple bushel of wildflowers. 

As you walked down the stairs, you scanned over the audience quickly looking for your parents. You sent them an invitation to the ceremony along with two tickets but you were sure they wouldn’t show up. Majoring in journalism with the dream of becoming a reporter hadn’t sat well with them, they never missed an opportunity to tell you that you were wasting your life. 

You walked back to your seat and listened as the rest of the names were called, cheering loudly for your friends as they crossed the stage. By the time the Dean announced the class of 2020, you were beyond ready to find Bucky, get out of the sun and get on with whatever he had planned for the night. 

Thirty minutes later, you pushed your way through the crowd, attempting to find Bucky. You hugged a few people on your way and you were just about to call him when you found him leaning against a tree, away from the madness. His sunglasses were covering his eyes and he had his hair pulled back off his neck. He wore a dark blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up, showing off the dark ink decorating his left arm. The look was finished off with a pair of black jeans and suede boots that were scuffed to hell. When he spotted you, he straightened up off the tree and grinned at you as you took off running, jumping into his arms when you made it to him. He held you around your waist and held you close to him. 

“Congratulations sugar,” he mumbled in your ear. “I’m so proud of you.” 

“You know what? I’m proud of me too,” you responded with a giggle. 

“Is there anything else you need to finish up here? Or can I take my best girl to lunch?” Bucky asked. 

You were just about to answer when you heard your name called from behind you. You whipped around and came face to face with your parents. 

“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?” 

“You invited us,” your mom said tensely. 

“Right of course,” you responded, at a loss for words. 

Your mom coughed and looked behind you where Bucky was still standing. 

“Oh right,” you said with a smile. “Mom, dad this is Bucky, my boyfriend. Bucky these are my parents Ken and Sue.” 

Bucky stepped around you and offered his hand to your father who looked at Bucky’s tattoos with disgust, ignoring his outstretched hand. You spoke up in an effort to diffuse the awkward situation. 

“I didn’t realize the two of you were coming out. I never heard back from you.” 

“We decided to surprise you. We wouldn’t believe you graduated if we wouldn’t have seen it for ourselves,” your dad said with a smirk. 

You gave a tight smile, not sure what to say to the backhanded comment. Luckily Bucky stepped in. 

“She’s pretty amazing,” he commented, wrapping his arm around you. “Graduated first in the program.” 

“The journalism program,” your mom said under her breath. 

You sighed and barely stopped yourself from rolling your eyes. 

“Why don’t we all go out to lunch?” Bucky suggested, ignoring your mother’s comment. “Celebrate the grad a bit?” 

You looked at your parents, almost positive they would turn down the invitation. 

“Why not,” your dad said. “Have a place in mind?” 

“Sure, there’s a place a few miles from here called Tony’s.” 

You smiled up at Bucky- that was the restaurant the two of you had your first official date at. 

+++++

The four of you were seated quickly at Tony’s, you and Bucky being somewhat of regulars. You all ordered your drinks and you saw your parents internally scrutinizing the place. It wasn’t anything fancy, a hole in the wall with loud music on Friday nights and an expansive drink menu making it a popular place for the local college kids. 

“So what’s the plan Y/N?” your mom asked. 

“The plan?” you questioned. 

“You got your… journalism degree. What’s next?” 

The way your mother said ‘journalism’ made it seem like it was a dirty word, never to be uttered in public. 

“I have an internship starting in a few weeks-” 

Before you could finish your sentence, your mom cut you off again. 

“Four years of work for an unpaid internship?” she scoffed. 

“Did she say unpaid?” Bucky said under his breath. 

You nudged him with your elbow as you suppress a smile. 

“It’s not unpaid and it will probably lead to a job after a few months,” you said, the pride clear in your voice. “It’s with This American Life.” 

You had worked your ass off to secure the highly coveted internship with This American Life, a radio show and podcast that was on public radio once a week. The show had made you fall in love with telling stories and working for them had been a dream of yours since you moved to New York for college. You recorded your own story to go with your application, Bucky had been the subject of it. A simple story that revolved around two weeks of shadowing him as he worked to open White Wolf Ink, his tattoo shop. 

“That’s… impressive,” your dad said, clearly surprised you had an actual plan. “Congratulations.” 

“Thanks dad,” you responded as your food arrived at the table. 

“What about you Bucky? When did you graduate?” your mom asked. 

“I didn’t,” Bucky said simply. “College wasn’t the right choice for me.” 

Your mom laughed, not bothering to hide her disdain. 

“So what is it that you do with no college degree?” 

“I’m a tattoo artist,” Bucky responded. 

Both of your parents looked at Bucky, failing to hide the judgment on their faces.

“He just opened his own shop,” you said, never one to shy away from bragging about your boyfriend. “It’s been busy.” 

“So how long have the two of you been dating?” your dad asked, ignoring your comments about Bucky. 

“Two years,” Bucky answered, looking over at you with a smile and placing a kiss on your head. 

“Really Y/N?” your mom moaned. 

“Really what?” 

“A struggling journalist dating a tattoo artist? Is that how you pictured your life?” 

“Nope,” you said, taking a sip of your wine. “I plan to be a successful journalist. And I never dreamed I’d be dating a man like Bucky. He’s so far out of my league.” 

You mother glared at you, clearly not satisfied with your answer. 

“Do you know how embarrassing this is for us? First, you leave town and then you major in something so… trivial. You were smart! You could have done something with your life! And if that wasn’t what you wanted, you could have married a nice respectable man!” 

“Enough!” you yelled. “You can sit there and tell me how much you dislike every choice I’ve ever made. But leave Bucky out of it.” 

Bucky squeezed your knee under the table and immediately you felt more calm and collected. 

“Listen,” Bucky said quietly. “I have a night planned to celebrate your amazing daughter and all the hard work she’s put in for the last four years. I’d love to have you stay for lunch but not if you’re going to act like this. 

Your mom looked between you and Bucky, waiting for you to defend her. You simply shrugged a shoulder and glanced over a Bucky, his face serious. You put your hand on top of his and squeezed three times, a silent way of saying “I love you”. 

“Well I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you act like any of this is okay,” your mom said, getting up from the table. 

Your father got up and followed behind your mom, glancing back at you with a sad smile. 

Once your parents were out of sight, Bucky turned to face you. 

“Baby, I’m so sorry,” he said quickly. 

“Why are you sorry? That was on them, not either one of us.” 

“Still-” 

“Let’s eat and then I promise we can talk this to death later tonight but right now, I just wanna have my happy day with my boyfriend,” you said, cutting him off. 

“Then a happy day is what you’ll have,” Bucky replied with a smile. 

+++++

An hour later, you were back in the car with Bucky, your late lunch and a glass of wine leaving you relaxed and content. You looked over at Bucky driving and smiled, putting your hand at the back of his neck and rubbing your thumb against him. 

“I love you lots, you know that?” you asked simply. 

“Not as much as I love you.” 

“Don’t you fight me,” you said with a giggle. “Where are we heading anyway?” 

“I finally finished sketching out your tattoo. Thought you might wanna get it done tonight?” 

“Really?! That sounds perfect,” you said with a sigh, leaning your head against the car window. 

It didn’t take long to get to the shop. Bucky unlocked the front door and you walked over you his chair, making yourself comfortable while he grabbed the design and went over to the machine, preparing the stencil to place on your skin. You lifted your dress slightly, revealing your right thigh for Bucky to decorate. You scrolled on your phone, looking through all the Instagram posts from your classmates, all celebrating your recent accomplishments. 

Bucky came back in, paper in hand. He instructed you to look away, wanting the final design to be a surprise. You laughed but did as you were told, smiling when you felt him press the page to your leg. 

“Okay,” Bucky said quietly. “You can look.” 

You looked down at your thigh and gasped. Instead of one of Bucky’s designs, purple words were pressed into your skin. “Will you marry me?” 

You looked up at Bucky, a black velvet box in his hand revealing a beautiful engagement ring. 

“You’re the one I want with me when all my dreams come true, when I accomplish any of my goals or when I fall short. You’re the one I want with me. Will you marry me?” Bucky asked. 

You could barely see him through the tears filling your eyes, frantically nodding your head up and down. He kissed you before sliding the ring on your finger and pulling you into his arms. 

You pulled away from him, kissing him once again. 

“Best day ever,” you mumbled against his lips. 

“One of many sweetheart. One of many.”


End file.
